Bibliographic Information:
Author: Ibi Zoboi
Title: American Street
Copyright: 2017
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978006247304
Summary: What was supposed to begin as a trip to a better life to Detroit to see her mother’s long-lost sister and daughters for Haiti natives Fabiola Toussaint and her mother turned into a nightmare when Fabiola’s mother is detained by the U.S. Immigration. Without her mother Fabiola feels lost, as she tries to begin her new life with her Aunt and cousins. Haiti and Detroit might as well be two different worlds as Fabiola struggles to hold on to her Haitian roots and navigate this new Detroit life. However, a difficult situation finds Fabiola caught between a rock and a hard place. She has an important decision to make, and only one choice can be made. Will she make the right decision?
Critical Evaluation: I love the way the authors developed the characters. Fabiola is well developed: she is smart, inquisitive, determined, stays true to her Haitian roots, flexible, and more. I enjoyed the big personalities of her cousins who were also well developed. The element of Haitian Vodou was prevalent throughout the book which made the book have a poetic feel incorporating Haitian beliefs, myths, and culture. The author does a great job of revealing how a young immigrant thinks and feels about adjusting to their new environment. One of the best elements of the book was the brief breaks between the chapters in which each main characters shares a reflective piece almost as if they are writing in a diary. This was a great way to really get a clearer sense of who the characters actually were separate from Fabiola’s perspectives about them.
Reader’s Annotation: Caught between a rock and a hard place, Fabiola has an important decision to make. Will her choice cost her the American dream?
Author Information: Ibi Zoboi was a Haitian immigrant herself, she immigrated to New York with her mother when she was just four years old. Going from one world (Haiti) to another world (New York) was definitely an exciting and magical experience for her. As a result, this is her reasoning for loving writing in the genres of fantasy, mythology, and science fiction. Ibi is known for wearing bright colors, and enjoys eating fruit.
She received a MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. “American Street” was her debut novel which was a finalist for the National Book award. Other works by her include: “Pride”, another YA novel, and “Black Enough”, which is a collection of stories that give first-hand accounts concerning what it is like to African American in today’s society.
Genre- Fiction
Curriculum Ties- English
Book Talk Ideas: Immigration
Reading Level/Interest Age- Grades 9-12
Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation:
Challenge Issues: Drugs; Domestic Violence
Selection Policy: http://ccclib.org/policies/CollectionDevelopmentAccess-1999-11-16.pdf
Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/intfreedom/librarybill/lbor.pdf
Right to Read: http://www2.ncte.org/statement/righttoreadguideline/
Rationale:
Bibliographic Information:
Author: Ibi Zoboi
Title: American Street
Copyright: 2017
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978006247304
Intended Audience: The intended audience is young adults specifically the upper grades of 9-12. This particular book would be beneficial for an English or social studies class. Primarily the book will be used for individual study in which every member of the class should read the book, and then afterwards there can be a group discussion of what transpired in the book as well as observations and thoughts concerning the book. “American Street” can be utilized to start discussions concerning immigration and Haitian heritage.
Summary: What was supposed to begin as a trip to a better life to Detroit to see her mother’s long-lost sister and daughters for Haiti natives Fabiola Toussaint and her mother turned into a nightmare when Fabiola’s mother is detained by the U.S. Immigration. Without her mother Fabiola feels lost, as she tries to begin her new life with her Aunt and cousins. Haiti and Detroit might as well be two different worlds as Fabiola struggles to hold on to her Haitian roots and navigate this new Detroit life. However, a difficult situation finds Fabiola caught between a rock and a hard place. She has an important decision to make, and only one choice can be made. Will she make the right decision?
Relationship to Program: The relationship of the book to school objectives would be helping 9th graders develop their literal and inferential understanding skills and comprehension skills. Through reading this book they would learn and develop the following skills: SLE #R. 9.9.2. Identify specific ways an author accomplishes purpose, including organization, narrative and persuasive techniques, style, literary forms or genre, portrayal of themes, tone and intended audiences; R.9.9.4 Recognize how works of a given period reflect author’s background, historical events, and cultural influences; and R.9.9.5. Draw inferences from a sentence or a paragraph (including conclusions, generalizations and predictions) and support them with text evidence. Concerning summary and generalization students will utilize R.9.9.8 Summarize and paraphrase structures in informational and literary texts, including relationships among concepts and details and R. 9.9.13 Identify and discuss a position using concepts gained from reading (e.g. debate, discussion, position paper, etc.). Concerning analysis and evaluation students will utilize R. 9.9.11 Recognize and define various points of view (e.g., omniscient narrator, third person limited).
http://www.fayar.net/edvision/language/09_reading_0405.pdf
Impact: This would definitely be a very insightful read for teens. Through this book, the teens would gain a better understanding of what new immigrants go through as far as their journey to a new place. It would also provide a deeper understanding of how Americans judge immigrants as well. I’m sure Fabiola isn’t the only teen immigrant ;therefore, other teen immigrants would be able to identify with the book as well as Fabiola.
Why Included: This is an amazing story of the trials and tribulations of a Haitian immigrant teenage girl. This book gives teenage immigrants a voice. In addition to learning about immigration, Haitian culture and traditions are also prevalent throughout the book. Students can only benefit from learning more about other cultures besides their own.
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